2020 - 02 - speculative-fiction - What did you read?

[Bea]

I read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I gave it 5*.

When I started this book, it was because it had been on my TBR since August of 2017 and fit the monthly shelf. I am not a fan of Science Fiction as a general rule. I have found a couple of authors whose SF stories I can follow, but mostly I am not interested in the conquering of other worlds or the scientific unfamiliar SF words that often pepper the story. And, that is what I expected after reading the first chapter or so...that I would get through the book but not really enjoy it.

Imagine my surprise as the story took over. This book is so relevant to today's struggle of sexual identity...and interacting with those different from ourselves. It holds out a hope that we can find the way to accept both ourselves and the other and find our common humanity...despite the differences.

I was grateful for having had the chance to read this book at this time of my life. So very grateful.

It applies to Prompt 1 of Just Read It (outside my comfort zone) and for the monthly shelf.

I nominate Classics.

[Meg]

I read Farthing by Jo Walton
★★★½

In this alternate history, England made peace with Germany in 1940. This story is set a few years later and focuses on the murder of an upper class English politician. It's told from two perspectives; the policeman investigating the murder and the wife of the Jewish man who seems to be being framed for it.
Overall I liked this book, although it was a little slow in parts. I'll continue with the series.

Used for seriously serial and Bookopoly
I nominate short stories

[Bea]

I also read The Wise Man's Fear and gave it 4*.

This was one of the HUGE books that I have delayed in getting to, although I enjoyed Book #1 a lot. Well, it was a much easier and faster read than I had anticipated...and I am now well hooked on the series!

I read this for Just Read It - Prompt 2 and Buddy Read.

I nominate high fantasy.

[Bea]

I read Oathbringer and gave it 4*.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. However, I am amazed that 7 more books are planned after this one and that there will be 25 all in all. I assume that the other 15 will be 0.x editions. I did note that Book #4 is planned for the end of 2020 and is supposed to be only 1000+ pages. It gives me hope!

This book seemed to be about the redemption or fall of many of the characters in the first two books. I resonated with the redemption part more suredly than the fall as I have personally begun that part of my own life...a reconciliation of who I have been and who I wish I was into a more accepted form of me.

I used this book for Just Read It...Prompt 2 and Buddy Read.

I nominate magic.

[Coralie]

I also read Oathbringer and gave it 4 stars.
Although I found it easy and pleasant to read (apart from being too heavy to rest on my new hip) I wish the series wasn't going to be so long as I like stories that have endings.
I liked the way that this book showed us both sides of the conflict, letting us see things from many points of view.
I will certainly read the next in the series to find out what happens next.

I used this book for seriously serial and Just Read It prompt 2.

I nominate historical fantasy.

[LaurLa]

Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ 02.26 ★★★★


# Tags: 208
Review:
Believe it or not, this is the first time ready this book. I'm not a YA fan or a fantasy fan, so I just shied away from the craze. I may have seen one of the movies way back when my boys were young... but it would have been in passing. Anyway, I did enjoy it. It was simpler to follow than a lot of fantasy I've read and not so much angst. It was enjoyable and the action was fun. I'll probably continue :-)

Challenge: Just Read It
Nomination: fantasy

[Joanna]

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Set almost entirely in the 1590s, this book picks up where the first in the trilogy leaves off, with Matthew and Diana headed to the past. This book would not stand alone without the first in the trilogy to set the scene, so you should definitely start with A Discovery of Witches. If you didn’t like that one, you won’t like this. If, like me, you found it delishiously readable, and you enjoy the history mixing with vampires and witches, you’ll like this too.

There’s lots of fun historical detail here about what everyone is eating, wearing, and reading. Historical figures name-drop in—Queen Elizabeth, William Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, and many, many others—which is mostly entertaining, though sometimes tiresome when I just wanted the story to move forward.

This is not high literature, but I’m having such fun with this trilogy. I’m sure I’ll read the third book very soon.

Four stars.

Used for bookopoly, Seriously Serial, and Just Read It
Nomination: time-travel

[Coralie]

I ended the month by reading The Birthday of the World and Other Stories. Some of these short stories sounded slightly familiar so I might have read them before, or just other tales set in the same world. Mostly it was investigating the many different ways society could be formed, particularly in relation to sex and family life.
Not being a great fan of short stories, my favourite was the novella Paradises Lost, set on a generation ship.
Four stars

I used this book for Bookopoly and Just Read It prompt 1

I nominate historical fantasy

[Kristina Simon]

I read An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon ★★★★★

I really enjoy this series. Obviously, since this is the 7th book and they're all over 1000 pages! I tend to read one Outlander book a year, but this one ended in such a cliffhanger that I may end up reading book #8 in 2020, too. ;-)

This one had a bit more of the time travel aspect to it than the last couple of books in this series, so not surprising that it appears on the speculative fiction shelf.

Used for: Just Read it! Prompt 2

Shelf nomination: Nature

[Elvenn]

I've read Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts). ★★★1/2.

With all the hype and people marathoning the first 50 books in the series before the publication of Shadows in Death (In Death #51) in September, I went into the book with high hopes, expecting a complex story set in the year 2058 about a cop researching a brutal crime (with sexual tension and an Irish billionaire somewhere in the mix).

After finishing it I can say I found the story quite straightforward and mostly a romance with crimes in the background and a meandering investigation. The book has been shelved multiple times as science-fiction, sci-fi, speculative fiction, urban fantasy but, except for a few details, the story could have easily taken place in 1995 and the author frequently had to both explain the similarities (view spoiler)[(20th century crimes, 20th century morals, 20th century weapons, 20th century motives) (hide spoiler)] and remind the reader of the future status of the story by making the protagonists drink tubes of Pepsi.

In all I found the book entertaining and a fast read and the romance was nice but with weird moments (for which I should probably blame the 90s). I would be very interested in reading more about this future New York City in the year 2058 and its crimes but I'm not sure I'd like to hear more about Eve's love life.

Rating: 3.5 stars ~ Shelf nomination: Translated

[Christina]

For this month I read The Handmaid's Tale. I've heard a lot about this book and it's one of the ones that for some reason or another I've just never gotten around to reading. And it was every bit as disturbing/creepy/depressing as expected. For the most part I really liked the author's writing but there were a couple places where it seemed mildly rambly. Nothing too bad though. I give 4 stars.

This book was also used for my Just Read It Challenge.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For my nomination I'm going to go with Animals because it's the start of kitten season in the rescue world.

[Marina]

I forgot to add The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, which I finished on February 27th.

★★★1/2

I really liked this book, but now I want to read the third instalment, which hasn't been published yet! It was a bit difficult at first as I read the first book some years ago so I didn't remember all of the plot, but once everything came back to mind it was much easier. I enjoyed reading it immensely, even though some parts were a bit slow to my taste ((view spoiler)[I'm mainly thinking of the time Kvothe spends with Felurian (hide spoiler)]), but the vast majority of the book was engaging and a very good read.

I used this book for Just Read It Prompt 2 and Buddy Read.

My nomination: romance since I need this for Just Read It Prompt 1 - it is way out of my comfort zone and I don't know when I'll get to read books in this genre if not pushed 😁

[Charity]

I also finished The Year of the Flood. This is the sequel to the first book I read and continues the end of the human race from the vantage point of other survivors who end up having connections to the main character, Jimmy, in the first book. It was better, I think than the first and held my attention more. It could be that I'm just more used to the style as well.

I nominate Journalism again.

[Lahni]

I read The Time Machine.

This is a classic that I've wanted to knock off my to read list for a while. It's not my favorite genre and classics can be harder for me to read so I didn't expect to love it. I actually did really like the beginning and the ending really well! I found the descriptions in the middle somewhat hard to follow and visualize sometimes. But I have to give credit to HG Wells's creativity. I did not expect the world he created. 3 stars.

I used this for Moving Mountains
I used this for Just Read It Prompt 2

I nominate betrayal

[Jamie]

I read Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.



A fun fantasy world for those who like to be immersed in magic. The pacing was a bit off but overall, a good read!

4 stars.

I nominate alternate history